A BEAUTIFUL OLD AGE.
"Serene and bright
And lovely as a Lapland night."
Wordsworth.
And lovely as a Lapland night."
Wordsworth.
DEAR placid hands!
Crossed gently now in calm and restful life,
Hands that have known their share of toil and strife,
And yet have faltered not in youth or age
To give both help and comfort,—now, a page
In their life's history is turned, and they
Are folded peacefully at close of day.
Crossed gently now in calm and restful life,
Hands that have known their share of toil and strife,
And yet have faltered not in youth or age
To give both help and comfort,—now, a page
In their life's history is turned, and they
Are folded peacefully at close of day.
Sweet eyes serene!
With light of heaven reflected in their beams,
Crowned with an aureole of far-off dreams,
Eyes that still smile and smile, and weep and weep
With others' joys and woes,—Time still doth keep
Their youthful lustre, yet a pensive hue
From other worlds dwells in their sunny blue.
With light of heaven reflected in their beams,
Crowned with an aureole of far-off dreams,
Eyes that still smile and smile, and weep and weep
With others' joys and woes,—Time still doth keep
Their youthful lustre, yet a pensive hue
From other worlds dwells in their sunny blue.
Dear silvery hair!
That once was golden, nay, its beauty now
Is undisputed, snows that veil the brow
With purity's soft haze, it is in truth
More touching than the rippling locks of youth,
That fluttered in the sunshine and the air
And caught the laughing sunbeams' feet so fair.
That once was golden, nay, its beauty now
Is undisputed, snows that veil the brow
With purity's soft haze, it is in truth
More touching than the rippling locks of youth,
That fluttered in the sunshine and the air
And caught the laughing sunbeams' feet so fair.
Dear heart, still young!
As true hearts are, Time cannot touch the spring
Th' eternal verdure that with thee doth cling,
Around each human object that hath need
Of pitying kindness in word or deed.
Dear loving heart in Life's sweet eventide
3ut brighter for the fires that purified.
As true hearts are, Time cannot touch the spring
Th' eternal verdure that with thee doth cling,
Around each human object that hath need
Of pitying kindness in word or deed.
Dear loving heart in Life's sweet eventide
3ut brighter for the fires that purified.
Some few more years
We pray be thine, for those who love thee so,
Who hold thee dearest of the dear below,
And then the rapture of a fairer shore,
The meeting of thy loved ones gone before.
Here, beautiful thine age serene and bright,
There, lovelier than the poet's Lapland night!
We pray be thine, for those who love thee so,
Who hold thee dearest of the dear below,
And then the rapture of a fairer shore,
The meeting of thy loved ones gone before.
Here, beautiful thine age serene and bright,
There, lovelier than the poet's Lapland night!
Lord! grant that I
May be like her, a virgin lily crowned,
With peace and hope encircling all around,
With oil of joy and garments of pure grace,
A fair faint shadow of the Master's face.
Thy lily, Lord, one day with tender love
To be transplanted to the realms above!
May be like her, a virgin lily crowned,
With peace and hope encircling all around,
With oil of joy and garments of pure grace,
A fair faint shadow of the Master's face.
Thy lily, Lord, one day with tender love
To be transplanted to the realms above!